Detective Sgt. Greg Schaefer said in a statement on Wednesday that police are investigating her cause of death, but said that it does not appear to involve foul play.

Ms. Doering was found in her sport utility vehicle facing the ocean in a parking lot on Old Montauk Highway.

Two guests at the Surfside Inn, which is across the road and slightly to the east, reportedly called police at about 3 p.m. to report a "woman not breathing." Police sealed off the public parking lot, which is on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and could be seen carefully circling the car and the entire lot for the next several hours.

At about 6 p.m., the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's office responded in a helicopter. "I couldnít believe they were able to land in that little overlook," Helene Delaney, one of the managers of the hotel and restaurant, said today. She was uncertain of what was going on across the street. The helicopter remained at the scene for about an hour.

Detectives interviewed two guests who had apparently placed the original call. The two guests left the hotel early Tuesday morning, the manager said.

Police remained in the lot until about 8:30 p.m. Monday, when the departmentís flatbed tow truck hauled the car away, and the lot was reopened to the public.

About the Author

T.E. McMorrow began freelancing for The Star in 2009, before coming on staff, full time, at the end of 2011. He is a member of the Drama Desk in New York. His book, “Nutcracker in Harlem,” illustrated by James Ransome, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2016 by HarperCollins children’s division.